Carnival
by AlmostNotReallyKawaii
Summary: Jason looks like a goddamn puppy excited for the carnival, and Nico can't help but be drawn into his pace. Fluffy Jasico. Rated for language.


Nico cursed whatever had possessed him in the moment he stupidly accepted Jason's request.

Cotton candy in one hand, a large stuffed dragon in the other, Nico and his bagged eyes trudged after the overly excited, muscly, teddy bear of a person. Jason nearly tripped over his feet running from one carnival attraction to the next. The Demeter cabin had decided to host an end-of-summer carnival, and had allowed the kids of the Big Three to come in free as long as they brought a friend along. Because of the wording of the Big Three rule, Jason had claimed Nico as his buddy and they both were allowed into the carnival for free, rather than having to pay the standard five drachma.

Despite the free admission, the infectious joy in the air, and the warm, arid wind constantly messing his hair up, Nico just wasn't feeling it. He tried to involve himself in the nauseating confection that was the carnival, but his heart just wasn't in it. And this was probably because of Annabeth and Percy.

The damned couple had been holding hands all evening, only letting go to wipe the sweat off before clasping once again their partner's hand. Despite how annoying they were being, Nico had a feeling that even that wasn't quite it.

He also had a feeling that it had to do with Jason Grace. The guy was too damn nice, fuck Nico if he read into things too much from time to time. In retrospect, Nico realized that he had probably admired Jason for a long time, and only just realizing the depth of his admiration. Sighing in defeat, he tried his best to ignore his stupid girly feelings and just focus on looking like he was having fun.

Looking up to find Jason, Nico suddenly found himself being dragged across the carnival by firmly-gripping hand.

"Wh-whoa, Jason, where are we going?" he stammered, trying his best to orient himself and pointedly ignoring the feel of Jason's big, warm hand on his own clammy one.

"Don't you worry, it's a surprise!" Jason responded eagerly, his husky voice reverberating in Nico's chest, setting his heart on edge. Nico stumbled through the crowd, blindly following the tug of Jason's grip, tentative about where this was going.

Suddenly, Jason stopped. It appeared that they had arrived at their destination.

"Look, the Ferris wheel doesn't even have a line right now! I was hoping we could go on it," Jason explained as he tugged Nico towards the ride and handed two tickets to the bored-looking Hephaestus kid (who was only there because his cabin had lost the last game of Capture the Flag and this was their punishment as assigned by the winners, the surprising alliance of the Demeter and Aphrodite cabins).

"Uh- uh, actually, Jason?" Nico began to stammer before suddenly he was sitting on a cold metal seat with a colder metal bar sitting across his lap. As soon as the ride started up, Nico instinctively grabbed onto Jason's arm and shut his eyes tight.

"Whoa, little man, is everything alright?" Jason muttered quietly as the Ferris wheel began its ascent towards the heavens. Shivering thanks to a mixture of cold and fear, Nico shook his head no, holding onto Jason's arm for dear life.

"What's wrong? Oh- are you afraid of heights?" Jason intuitively guessed, gently rubbing a hand down Nico's back, trying to comfort him. Unfortunately, Jason's niceness only served to fluster Nico even more, and he ended up shivering into Jason's shoulder with his hands over his face by the time they reached the top of the Ferris wheel.

Looking down at the view before him, Jason knew this wasn't something he was going to let Nico miss out on. Gently coaxing Nico's hands off his face, he muttered some reassuring words into Nico's ear.

"You're going to be be absolutely alright, okay Nico? I'm right here, and I won't let anything happen to you," Jason comforted Nico and gently pried Nico's shivering hands off his face.

"You don't have to open your eyes if you don't want to," Jason muttered quietly, looking down at Nico's adorable blushing face, his eyes shut tightly. Nodding silently, Nico slowly mustered the courage to open his eyes and look out at the scene before him.

As the ferris wheel slowed to a stop, Nico's eyes glittered with the beauty of the sight he saw before him. A place which he never felt at home in suddenly felt incredibly nostalgic to him. With all the new kids from the new cabins running around, the sickeningly sweet combination cotton candy and caramel corn, and the warm touch of Jason's arm around his waist, Nico allowed himself to enjoy the moment. He took a deep breath in and closed his eyes, and-

Suddenly a pair of warm lips were tensely, sloppily pressing against his.

Nico's first thought was one of panic. Obviously unused to the touch of others, he almost - _almost - _instinctively flinched, before his brain alerted him of another thought. The only other person on the ride was Jason Grace.

Which mean that Jason Grace was kissing him.

Jason Grace's lips were on his own lips. Voluntarily.

He could have screamed.

He did, in fact, but internally. His eyes wide for a moment, Nico affirmed that it was Jason indeed who was kissing him before he closed his eyes and melted into the kiss. Suddenly, the ride jerked back into motion, forcing the pair apart.

They looked at each other's face for a moment, slightly astonished but otherwise utterly expressionless, before both blushed furiously and looked away from each other for the remainder of the ride.

It was at this point that Nico pondered the significance of what had just happened. _Not_ reading into it was going to be one of the hardest things he had ever done, but he felt in his gut that he would have to pretend it never happened.

And thus, with a sickening feeling in his stomach, Nico exited the ride, folding his hands across his chest loosely, in a defensive, protective position.

"S- so what do you wanna do next?" Jason asked, breaking the silence with a voice more nervous than Nico could have ever thought that Jason could muster.

"I-is that it? What am I supposed to do? Read into it? _Not_ read into it? Fall hopelessly and and desperately in love with you, only to have you rebuff me? Because guess what! I'm already halfway there!" Nico's quivering voice broke through, his contentious nature getting the better side of him over his accepting side. Jason looked stunned; it was possible that he had never heard Nico speak that much that loudly all at the same time.

The pair stared at each other awkwardly for a moment before they continued to walk, unconsciously moving away from the now nauseating scent and loud voices of the carnival, moving towards the ocean shore. Nico was flushing furiously, cursing himself for his outburst, while Jason appeared lost in thought, alternately staring at the sand beneath his feet and at the pulsating ocean tide. After a moment, Jason finally spoke.

"L-look Nico, I'm not entirely sure why I did that. Maybe it was the moment, or the scenario, or just the situation. But what I do know for sure is that I didn't hate it," Jason said, all rather quickly, his cheeks glowing with a slight red flush.

_Fuck_, Nico thought, _this boy is goddamn adorable._

"A-a-and I didn't mean to disrespect you or make fun of you or anything. I just...I don't know what I want. I know what I don't want, and, well, Piper and I have talked that stuff out. But give me some time, okay?" Jason said, an immensely guilty look on his face. It was clear that he felt conflicted about the incident, but more than anything he was scared of stepping on Nico's boundaries or alienating him at all.

And in that moment Nico's heart swelled with compassion and happiness and this indescribable feeling of just _wow_, and he couldn't help but fall for Jason a little bit. But only a little. They stood in silence for a moment longer, the forest nymphs giggling from a bit away. Then, Nico suddenly found his voice and his courage all in one fell swoop.

Looking straight into Jason's eyes, he said, "That's perfectly okay," and leaned up on his tiptoes, pressing a quick kiss to Jason's cheek.

"Take as much time as you need."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: hsdajkfhdskj I am in such a Jasico phase rn i need more fluff everything on here is by takara phoenix but she's is basically all about smut and i want more fluff for this ship in this fandom! So I decided to contribute my own!**

**Inspired by the true relationship story of my friends T&T! Happy Birthday!**

**Please R&R! I love your reviews! Let me know if you have any requests or if you notice anything about the fic that you liked/didn't like/wanted more of!**

**Thanks!**


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